Mmm. The young boy gently nudges the soft petal with his index finger as he smells the flower. A chrysanthemum.

“Youngjae! Get your over here and help me load these boxes!” Youngjae sighs; the boy releases his support on the petal and it slowly bounces back to it’s natural position. “Youngjae!!!”

“Coming!” Youngjae yells back with annoyance as he pushes himself up from the front of the shop he had been kneeling down at. His white dress shirt crinkles underneath his poorly seamed navy apron.

Youngjae treads to the back of the shop, flipping up the moveable edge of the counter to enter the storage area. “Yes sir?” Youngjae asks earnestly as he protrudes his head from the side of the door.

“These,” Youngjae’s not so skinny boss points down at a pile of boxes. “move them onto the top shelves and mind the store. I’m going out.”

Youngjae sighs as he looks down at the abundance of heavy looking boxes that would probably take an hour to move. “Yes Sir…” Youngjae bends down as his boss grudges his fat body around him.

“And figure out some way to deal with those delinquents, aren’t they your age? Do something about it.” Youngjae’s boss yells just as he slams the front door behind him, the bell hanging over the door clanging loudly.

There was a group bothering the shops near where Youngjae was working. He had never seen them while he was on job, but apparently they trashed the library next to them.

A chill runs down Youngjae’s spine as he begins to lift up the heavy boxes. I hope I don’t run into them…

“Sorry I’m late Sir!” Youngjae scrambles through the front door of the store, his jacket unleveled and his forehead dripping.

“Well you sure took your sweet time. You better not forget what happened, you still owe me your head.”

Youngjae’s boss just leans on the counter, his white shirt outlining his fat stomach. “I’m heading out. Watch the shop.”

Youngjae can only nod as the man walks past him and out the door, his heavy frame bumping into Youngjae’s shoulder.

The shop is quiet now, Youngjae tends to the flowers as the minutes pass by. “Hi baby, you’re not looking too good.” Youngjae bends down as he looks at the baby breath’s. “I know what can perk you right up.”

The boy smiles to himself as he stands up and walks past the counter to the back room. Fertilizer… right… here.

Youngjae’s finger stops right on the small bag of fertilizer. This is what I need.Youngjae lifts his hands up to reach for the bag when suddenly,

“Hey guys look, there’s no one in the shop!” Youngjae barely has seconds to react before he hears glass shattering.

The delinquents. Youngjae’s heart drops and he feels a lump in his throat. Youngjae looks around desperately for somewhere to hide. But there isn’t anywhere. The only things in the back room are shelves hung up on the wall. Nowhere.

“Ha, look at these flowers, how stupid!” Youngjae clenches his fists as he hears pots shattering and loud yelling.

“Hey, there’s a back room.” Youngjae’s heart drops at the sentence. Oh no.

His heart races as he hears footsteps coming closer and closer. Please…Youngjae closes his eyes, praying.

“You… do you work here?” The soft whisper is nice and calm, and Youngjae slowly opens up his eyes.

“Hey Jaebum! Anything good inside?” Youngjae’s heart races again. The boy’s face is dark, his jet black hair covered by a black hoodie. His ears pierced in multiple locations and a smirk planted on his face.

“Is ing dirt good for you?” Jaebum snickers as he chucks a bag of fertilizer out the door.

“Ah you too, Jaebum!” Youngjae hears the boys trample over the broken glass as they get ready to leave.

“Hey, I saved your , where’s my thank you?” Jaebum smirks, his eyes glimmering in the dark storage room.

Youngjae relaxes. “Uhh… tha-”

“What are you bastards doing in my store!” Youngjae’s words are cut off as he hears the unmistakable voice yelling from outside. Oh no.

Jaebum quickly pokes his head out the storage door, but the man is already inside, staring at the mess.

“…” Jaebum mutters as he pulls his head back in, his body leaning against the wall.

“Youngjae! ing kid get out here!” Youngjae gulps as he steps outside, walking past Jaebum.

“S-Sir… I couldn’t do an-” Youngjae’s words are cut short as a punch lands on his stomach. His insides churn as he staggers on his wobbling feet. “S-Sir-”

This time with his foot, the man kicks Youngjae in the stomach, sending the boy backward into a metal shelf. The plants on the shelves fall off as Youngjae’s body rattles the shelf, his body falls limp to the glass covered ground.

“You ing child. I told you to take care of them and look what you did!” Youngjae can barely open his eyes before they’re closed back tightly again.

The man madly stomps down on Youngjae’s shoulder, a loud crack echoing around the room. Youngjae cries as the pain rips through him and he loses all feeling in his right hand.

It doesn’t stop at that. The man ignores the cracking sound and this time steps down on Youngjae’s stomach, twisting his foot in further to emphasize the pressure.Youngjae’s cries out, tears stinging in his eyes.

After several minutes of continuous beating, the man stops. He brushes off his dirty shirt, and stalks out the door. The bells rings as Youngjae is left alone,lying there.

“…” Jaebum scrambles through the door and through the counter and he quickly kneels down beside Youngjae. “Hey… are you okay?” Jaebum gently taps Youngjae’s face.

“N-nghh…” Youngjae moans, his eyes still scrunched tightly together.

“… the hell is going on.” Jaebum bends down and picks up Youngjae’s intact shoulder.

“A-ahh..” Youngjae whimpers as Jaebum lifts him up.

Jaebum bites down on his lip. “, we’re getting out of here.”

“Ngh..” Youngjae blinks open his eyes, an incredible ache circulating through his body.

“Hey hey, take it easy kid.” The voice is someone that Youngjae doesn’t recognize, but at this point, Youngjae doesn’t care.

It takes a while for his eyes to adjust, from his position the only person he can see is the person the voice belonged to. “My names Jinyoung, you feeling any better now?”

The boy looks almost identical to that boy he had met in the store. His black hair nearly covers his brown eyes, and everything else is covered up by the same black hoodie that Jaebum had worn.

“Youngjae… and, I still feel horrible.” Jinyoung smiles a little as he helps sit Youngjae up. To Youngjae, everything else seems a little bit more clear.

The whole area is mostly dark besides a few candles and flashlights, and it doesn’t take Youngjae long to notice the tall ragged ceiling confirming, a cave.

“Surprisingly you’re looking good though. A fractured arm, internal bleeding, bruises, cu-”

“Excuse me… where is that boy?” Jinyoung turns to look Youngjae straight in the eyes. The same brown eyes glimmering at him.

‘Which boy? Ah, you mean Jaebum hyung?” Jinyoung smirks slightly, getting up from the rock he had been sitting on. “Hey hyung! The boy is calling for you! Get your down here!” Jinyoung calls upwards to nowhere.

“Good luck” Jinyoung winks before scampering off somewhere into the darkness.

Good luck? What for?

Youngjae’s questions are answered as he hears wires coiling and to his amazement, Jaebum is hanging up in the sky.

“Hey kid, you feeling any better?” Jaebum has a soft smirk on his face as he unhooks his wire, his body dropping down a few feet before landing on the solid ground.

“Y-yeah… where are we?” Youngjae is restless, anxiety and worry shooting pains up his arm.

“On the outskirts of town, about a 2 hour walk from that flower shop.” Jaebum answers as he plops down onto the rock Jinyoung had been sitting on.

Youngjae carefully slides his feet off the bed onto the stone ground. “Who are these people?” Youngjae refers to Jaebum, Jinyoung, and the other four boys who had been silently watching since earlier.

“I think you know who they are? They’re the delinquents that’ve been wrecking shops around town. Or should I say, we’re the delinquents?” Jaebum smirks.

“Why did you bring me here?” Youngjae gulps, his eyes darting through the darkness, searching for an escape route.

“Full of questions aren’t we? Well to put it simply, your “ boss” set up a ransom for your name. He said you were in with us “delinquents” for wrecking the shop.

Youngjae’s stomach drops. A ransom? There’s no way… Youngjae stands up, ignoring the pain erupting all over his body.

“Hey ki-” Jinyoung starts.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jaebum lifts himself up from his rock. “If you head back now, you’ll be put in jail, you know that right?”

Youngjae limps past Jaebum. “I have to explain it to them.”

Jaebum turns to face the limping boy. “Do you think they’ll believe you? Right now, you’re just a delinquent like us. Don’t get any funny ideas.”

Youngjae stops in his tracks. “I’m not a ing delinquent like you!” The boy turns on his heels, a sharp rock clenched in his fist; his body makes a straight beeline towards Jaebum.

Youngjae’s eyes are scrunched closed until his hand makes sudden impact. What? Youngjae opens his eyes; a tall lanky boy stands there, his hand stained red, the sharp rock impaled on it.

“Mark!” Jinyoung runs towards them a look of worry stained on his face; Youngjae drops the stone, fear shaking him.

“I’m fine Jinyoung ah.” The boy lowers his hand, the same black hoodie engulfing the skinny boy.

Jinyoung ignores Mark’s words and picks up the boy’s hand, whilst dragging him over to patch him up.

Youngjae draws his attention from the two boy’s and back to Jaebum. The elder simply stares straight forward at the boy.

“We did nothing wrong.” Youngjae looks back at the two, Jinyoung’s wet eyes glare at him. “We’re not delinquents, you have no right to say that when you work under a bastard like him!”

Youngjae is taken aback as the boy’s eyes start to drop tears, his words echoing in the dark cave.

“W-what do you mean?” Youngjae looks at Jaebum, searching his eyes in an attempt to find answers.

Jaebum sighs and slowly walks closer to Jinyoung. “We hunt down the people that need to be hunted down. People that are either- in debt, bream the law, or illegal identities.”

The boy now stands directly in front of Youngjae, so close that Youngjae can feel his breath on him. “We’re no delinquents. We take back what wasn’t rightfully theirs, and punish them for it. That’s all.”

Youngjae stands frozen, Jaebum’s words slowly sinking into him. “Do you still want to go back now?”

Youngjae can’t answer him. His violent act turning his skin beet red. I-I’m sorry.” Youngjae bows, his body turns in the direction of Mark and Jinyoung.

“Thatta boy.” Jaebum smirks as he pats the young boys back. “You’ll have to get adjusted here, anything you need back at home? Valuables, family?”

Youngjae thinks. He had no family left, no valuables he could think of, but, the flower shop. “Um, the-”

“Don’t worry, we’ll check by the flower shop, most of it must have been wrecked though. You can blame Jackson and Bambam for that.”

“Hyung! How can you say that!”

“Ah, might as well introduce all of us to you, we’ll be getting to know each other for a long while.” Jaebum turns around to face the boys. “The medic is Jinyoung, the one beside him is Mark. He’s the eldest. Those two have a thing together, but you can ignore that.”

Youngjae nods to the two boy’s; Jinyoung’s face flushed from Jaebum’s words. “The other three are Yugyeom, Bambam, and Jackson. Yugyeom is the youngest and Bambam, Jackson are the loudest.”

Youngjae looks at the boys and then back at Jaebum. “Then there’s me.” Jaebum smirks again, the corner of his mouth upturned. “I’m the second oldest, and the leader of this group. Let’s get along well, okay?”

Youngjae sighs as he leans against a rock, the birds just outside the cave chirping away loudly.

“Why the long sigh Youngjae? Jaebum will be back soon.”

“Y-yeah I know… it’s just…” Youngjae doesn’t want to admit that he is slightly worried for the elder.

“He’ll be fine, he’s not the leader for no reason you know. Plus he has Mark and Jackson, relax.” Jinyoung smiles brightly as he hangs up wet hoodies and pants.

Jaebum had convinced Youngjae not to go outside in case he was recognized, the three of them travelling undercover would have been a lot better. But still, Youngjae can’t help but worry.

“Hey Youngjae, they’re back.” Youngjae hops up at Jinyoung’s words, and sure enough, the three boys appear over the horizon.

The boy excited, runs over to greet the trio at the entrance to the cave. Jaebum who walks in the front, smiles at Youngjae.

“Couldn’t wait for us to get back could you?” Jaebum holds out a small pot resting in his palms.

“You got something?” Youngjae walks closer to Jaebum, the small plant becoming more and more clear.

“Yeah, that’s all that was left though.” Jaebum hands the potted plant to Youngjae. “What is it?”

Youngjae smiles and he holds the plant in one hand, his other gently the white petals. “A chrysanthemum.”

Youngjae looks up into Jaebum’s eyes. “A chrysanthemum.”